Full pressure suit helmet and torso tiedown system



March 7, 1961 R. J. MCGOWAN, JR 2,973,521

FULL PRESSURE SUIT HELMET AND TORSO TIEDOWN SYSTEM Filed March 5, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ML LM- Ar a/Fwy March 7, 1961 R. J. M GOWAN, JR ,5

FULL PRESSURE SUIT HELMET/AND TORSO TIEDOWN SYSTEM Filed March 3, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 NVENTOR.

United States Patent FULL PRESSURE SUIT HELMET AND TORSO TIEDOWN SYSTEM Richard J. McGowan, Jr., Arlington, Tex., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention relates to inflatable pressure suits of the type used by aviators at high altitudes in order to subject the body to a gaseous pressure higher than that of the atmosphere at that altitude. It particularly concerns improvements by which the suit may be maintained in a bent position Without any strain on the wearer.

The usual pressure suit is in effect a gas filled capsule which completely encloses the wearers body and its extremities. With the exception of the head covering or helmet, which is normally a hard plastic dome with a transparent front or face piece, the suit is generally made of some suitable air impermeable material that is flexible, for instance, rubberized fabric.

One of the problems usual to these suits arises when it is inflated and the wearer assumes a bent position, as in sitting. A certain amount of slack or excess suit material gathers at the wearers waist. The inflating gas tends to remove this slack by extending the suit into its erect form. There is also a lifting of the suit at its upper portion exerting an upward pull on the wearers head which makes it difficult to tilt or turn the head. Various devices have been made in attempts to counteract these eifects, but in general they were-mostly only partial solutions.

The most common device has been a suspender built within the suit having its ends fastened to the trousers part and the loops or bights carried over the shoulders. The suspenders, being within the suit, are hidden and do not detract from the suits appearance. But they are diflicult to adjust once the suit is donned and cannot be adjusted when the suit is inflated. The relatively small widths of the suspender strap are pressure points on the wearers shoulders which develop uncomfortable abrasions. Furthermore, the suspenders mainly eliminated waist slack and did little by way of solving the helmet raising difficulty.

Having these problems in mind, it is the object of this invention to provide a pressure garment with external means for taking-up waist slack and preventing helmet rise when the suit is bent to conform to a sitting position.

It is a further object of this invention to provide adjustable elongated means on an inflatable suit for removal of slack so that a wearer is relieved of strain when in a position other than standing without any appreciable loss of head maneuverability.

Other objects will appear in the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Fig. 1 is a front view of the suit in an erect position.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the suit showing one of the ice helmet restraining straps at the back buckled and the other unbuckled.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the upper portion of the suit.

Fig. 4 shows the suit bent into a sitting position as seen from the front.

Figs. 5 and 6 are enlargements of a portion of the suit showing details of the helmet restraining harness; Pig. 5 being a side elevation and Fig. 6 a front elevation.

Referring to the drawing, the complete garment is designated by the numeral 10. It is a suit which includes shoes 11, trousers 12, a jacket 13, gloves 14 and a helmet 15. The helmet is preferably made of plastic and provided with a transparent face window 16. The trousers and jacket'are made of a flexible waterproof material, such as a rubber coated fabric; whereas the shoes and gloves are the customary rubber or a rubber and fabric combination.

The jacket 13 has a rigid neckband or helmet attaching ring 17 to which the helmet 15 is removably secured by means such as the wedging lugs 19 andZtl carried on the neckband and the helmet. As can be seen from the drawing the motion for connecting is similar to that used to join lugged conduits which requires a longitudinal movement and a partial turn of the parts with respect to each other. Slide fasteners, some of which are characterized as 22 are a usual joining means between suit parts. Obviously many of the joints can be eliminated by integral construction of the suit portions. The suit is inflated through a fluid pressure line 24.

The construction of the suit so far described is not unusual, and for the purposes of the invention, which will be set out in the following paragraphs, numerous other constructions are suitable.

In general, the helmet restraining means comprises a harness 26 which is a cable 27 that is looped across the breast and over both shoulders with the ends terminating at about the middle of the back. The cable is adjustably secured at its ends and at its breast loop 28; it is also slideably secured to the neckband 17 and at the breast loop 28.

Each end of the cable is formed into an eye 30 by folding back a portion of the cable and splicing it with the standing portion of the cable or securing it with U-bolts (not shown). A strap buckle 32; is secured to the eye 30 by means of a U-clamp 33 and bolt 34. This assembly permits swivelling the cable with respect to the buckle in a plane parallel to the back aswell as in a plane perpendicular to the back.

The buckle 32 is a piece of commercial hardware and may be of the type shown which is known as a Hurley 2100 buckle. Essentially it is a rectangular piece of plate metal having two cut-outs 35 and 36 which separate the upper, central, and lower cross-bar portions of the buckle. The buckle is carried in the U-clamp 33 by its, upper bar 37. r

A back strap 40 suitable for the buckle, has one end secured to the outer surface of the jacket by stitches 41 at a point just below the middle of the back. The free end 42 of the back strap 40 extends up the back and into the buckle 32. It is passed through the buckle 32 in the usual manner, namely, by passing the free end 42 through the upper cut-out 35 from the underside of the buckle, over the outer side of the central bar, through the lower cut-out 36 and under the lower bar. As can be seen, a pull on the free end of the back strap 40 shortens the effective length of the back strap and draws the cable eye 30 nearer to the strap anchoring point on the jacket. The reverse effect takes place by working the strap back through the buckle.

The other end of the cable is preferably similarly formed being provided with a buckle 32' and back strap 3 4 Adjustments, thus, may be made at both ends of He then bends to the other side and likewise draws taut the cable. the strap on that side. The-center or belly strap 63 and The shoulder loop portions 44 of the cable 27 are slidably disposed in cable guides 46 (Fig. 5). These are short metallic tubes secured to the neckband by welds (not shown) or other suitable means and disposed over the shoulders.

The breast loop 28 (Fig. 6) of the cable passes through a movable pulley 48 which is mounted between the parallel legs of a bifurcated member 50 which is a combination pulley block and buckle. The member 50 is Y-shaped (Fig. 5) in longitudinal section thus having a depending leg 51. The leg 51 (Fig. 6) has a cut-out 52 spanned with'a sliding cross bar 53 which forms a front strap buckle 54.

A front strap 56 is secured, by stitching 5S, intermediate its ends to the front of the jacket at a point below the breast and above the waist, the free ends extending longitudinally of the suit. One free end 57 of the front strap 56 is reeved through the buckle 54 of the member 50 in the manner discussed with reference to the back buckle 32. The other free end 5% of the front strap 56, which extends downward to about the waist line, carries a buckle 60 for coupling with the free end 62 of a strap 63 having its other end 64 secured to the trousers in the vicinity of the crotch.

From the above, it could be seen that the elevation of the neckband, and the helmet thereby, may be varied to accommodate the wearer. The back straps 4t and 40' permit coarse adjustments, whereas the front strap 56 provides a way for making final adjustments and may be made by the wearer himself after donning the suit.

On each side of the suit there is a strap secured to the jacket and a strap 74 attached to the trousers. The side straps 76 and 74 are coupled by a buckle 72 which is similar to the back buckle 32 and thus form a tie-down 75 for further removing of waist slack. The side tie-downs and the belly strap 63 may be manipulated by the wearer while in the suit.

All straps and the cable extend longitudinally, that is, up and/or down, on the outer surface of the suit. It is preferred that buckles be carried by the straps extending downward so that tightening is produced with a downward pull. The usual flexible materials. like canvas or plastic, are suitable for the straps.

In use, the suit being donned and coarse adjustments of the back straps being made, the wearer sits down, then bends to one side and tightens the strap on that side.

helmet tie-down strap 56 are then easily drawn tight. Loosening the belly strap only will permit the wearer to stand; consequently, the side straps may be tightened while standing, if so desired.

From the foregoing, it is seen that the straps are freely accessible to the wearer and readily adjustable. Furthermore, the straps are cushioned by the inflating fluid preventing pressure points on the wearer. The pulley and cable arrangement permits shifting the head to either side, yet it limits the helmet rise.

Of course, various changes may be made in the details of the several parts without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An inflatable pressure suit having a front, back, sides, waist, and a rigid neckband for attaching a helmet thereto, a cable secured at its ends to the exterior surface of said back of said suit, cable guides secured to opposite sides of said neckband, means including a pulley disposed on the exterior surface of said front of said suit, said cable being reeved through said guides and the pulley, a separable belly strap secured intermediate its ends on the exterior surface of said front of said suit and extending longitudinally thereof, coupling means adjustably securing one end of said belly strap with said pulley means so that the position thereof and the cable tension on the neckband thereby may be varied, a crotch strap secured below the waist of said suit and having a longitudinally, upwardly extending end, and coupling means for adjustably joining the upward end of said crotch strap with the other end of said belly strap so that bending of said suit at the waist is facilitated.

2. The suit of claim 1 including a pair of adjustably, coupled, spaced straps fixed to the front, exterior surface of said suit to facilitate bending at the waist and conforming it to a sitting position.

3. The suit of claim 1 including adjustably coupled, spaced straps fixed at the sides on the exterior surface of said suit as a further means of facilitating waist bending of said suit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,244,163 Kronhaus June 3, 1941 2,414,051 Mallory Jan. 7, 1947 2,935,985 Andrews et al. May 10, 1960 

